Hard to Forget
by sansadie
Summary: Ten years after HS, Kurt is a famously catty fashion designer. Dave is excited to work with him, but quickly finds out that Kurt is completely different than he was, so he sets out to help him become sweet and trusting again. Based off a prompt.
1. Who's the Bully Now?

**Author's Note:** This story is based on a prompt by fabgabulous7.

**Prompt outline: Ten years after high school, Kurt has become a really bitter and cruel fashion designer, who makes everyone he works with miserable. He's so terrible that no one from Glee Club will talk to him anymore. Meanwhile, Dave has gotten himself together and is out and happy. He gets the chance to work with Kurt and is excited until he sees how awful Kurt is to everyone. Kurt is furious when he sees Dave, because of how things ended between them in high school. He tries to make Dave's life hell, but because of his bullying, he sees right through Kurt and tries to help him move past it.**

**Full prompt here (remove spaces): http : / / karofsky - hummel . livejournal . com / 33631 . html?thread=8381279#t8381279**

'It's going to be amazing to see Kurt,' Dave thought, humming to himself as he packed the equipment he'd need on the trip into his camera bags. He'd tried checking up on Kurt for the past few years, but whenever he ran into one of Kurt's friends in Lima, they skirted the subject of how Kurt was doing. It made sense, Dave mused. After the way he'd treated Kurt during most of high school, it was no surprise that Kurt's friends didn't really want to talk about him to Dave. Thankfully, Dave was finally getting the opportunity to show Kurt how much he'd changed since their senior year.

As he placed the last lens into the bag, his assistant, James, walked into the room. "What are you smiling so much about?" Dave shrugged and tried to wipe the smile from his face, but didn't totally succeed. "Come on, man, you know you can't hide anything from me, so you may as well come out with it."

It wasn't like he'd be able to hide how he felt when he saw Kurt again, so he might as well tell James. Grabbing the computer he'd need to edit the photos, he spoke. "So you remember that kid I told you about from high school?"

James chuckled. "Yeah, the one who you couldn't seduce by shoving him into lockers? What about him?"

"He's the designer whose collection I'm shooting. Man, I haven't seen him in years, and maybe now that I've finally gotten my act together..."

"Wait, the guy you've been pining over for 10 years is _Kurt Hummel_? The chief designer for YSL? _That_ Kurt Hummel?" James had a dubious look of his face, as though he'd just heard something that worried him.

"Yeah, why? What do you know about him?"

"Dave, dude, I know you're kind of new to fashion photography, but he has a reputation for, um, kind of being a...bitch."

Dave snorted. "Yeah, he always was a bit of a diva. I remember this one time, he got all up on me, started shaking his finger in my face. I doubt he's gotten much calmer since then." James looked uncertain, but just sighed and told Dave they'd better get everything to the car if they wanted to make their flight. Dave took one last glance around the studio to make sure he'd packed everything. Man, catching up with Kurt was going to be an adventure. Dave just hoped Kurt would be able to get past high school and give him a chance.

Three airports later, Dave found himself in Ushuaia, Argentina. From the city, they'd be heading out into the Tierra del Fuego National Park and the Southern Fuegian Railway, where Kurt had decided he wanted to shoot his newest collection. Dave had been a little surprised when Kurt's assistant had mentioned the park. Dave had shot there when he'd been predominantly a wildlife photographer, and he couldn't imagine someone like Kurt willingly going out into such a harsh area, especially not if he was dragging his new summer collection. Trust Kurt to want to shoot a summer collection in one of the coldest places he could find.

Their taxi pulled up in front of Los Cauquenes Resort, the hotel where they'd all be staying. Checking in, they were told that their bags would be put in their rooms, and that Mr. Hummel had been waiting for them since 11:15. Dave glanced at his watch. It was 11:32. James gave him a helpless shrug.

When they got to Kurt's room, they heard a thump, followed by a shriek. James shrugged again, and Dave was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with him. Dave knocked once before the door was jerked open and a well-dressed but frazzled-looking young woman stood before them. "Oh good, you must be the photographer!" She grabbed Dave by the elbow and yanked him into the room, leaving James to follow, apprehension clouding his face.

Kurt was standing in front of the picture window, staring out at the mountains. The woman, who still had Dave's elbow grasped firmly in her handed, approached him, cringing slightly. "Mr. Hummel? The photographer is here." Kurt turned around, and Dave started to chuckle, because the look of haughty disdain was exactly how he'd remembered it. He was so caught up in the memory of a high school Kurt that he was barely able to duck, and the sunglasses Kurt had hurled at him only missed him by about half an inch. Unfortunately, James hadn't seen the throw, and they hit him square in the middle of the forehead. He let out a squeak, but otherwise gave no reaction. Whenever they had some time, Dave would have to find out what was going on with him.

"Maggie, what is David Karofsky doing here?" Kurt growled, and Dave didn't think he'd ever heard Kurt's voice go so low. "I had hoped to go my whole life without ever having him in my bedroom and now, because of you, that's not possible."

"Mr. Hummel, remember? Mr. Karofsky is the photographer we hired to shoot the summer collection. We talked about it for weeks; the whole design team agreed that he was the best choice to photograph the collection down here." Maggie looked so frightened that Dave was impressed she was still able to speak. She seemed ready to run for the door, and Dave noticed that she had positioned herself with a chair between her and Kurt.

"If there was so much talking going on, why didn't anyone bother to ask me?" Kurt roared, and Maggie took a discreet step back and lifted her chin slightly.

"We did ask you. We had a three hour meeting where we studied the work of a variety of photographers, and Mr. Karofsky's work was the one you picked. I even mentioned that he was from your hometown, and you said to hire him."

"You really expect me to listen to everything you say? You can't even bring me the correct coffee order in the morning, and you expect that I'll think it's important when you talk to me? Well, you'd better listen now, because you are going to get on the phone and you are going to find a photographer who will be here in the morning to photograph this collection, and if you don't want to find your own way back from South America, he'll be better than David Karofsky!" With that, Kurt sank into the chair that Maggie had used as a shield and crossed his arms over his chest.

Since the sunglasses attack, Dave noticed that James had situated himself with his back to the door and his had on the doorknob. As Maggie ran toward the door, presumably to find a phone, James held it open and then dashed out after the assistant.

Dave approached the chair that Kurt was now pouting in and stuck out his hand. Kurt snarled. "Do you really think I'm going to shake your hand? God knows where it's been. It's probably been all over your trophy wife, and I don't want lady parts germs all over me."

"Good god, Hummel, lady parts germs? I'm gay, dude. I've been out since the summer after high school." Kurt sat up even straighter and his face twisted as though he'd sucked on a lemon. "Look, Kurt, you hired me to shoot this collection, and I am damn good at what I do. There's absolutely no need to hire another photographer when I can do this job better than any of them. Besides, you can't fire me, not unless you want me to sue you for breach of contract." Dave wasn't totally sure if it would be breach of contract, but he didn't think Kurt would know, either, so it was worth a shot.

Kurt looked concerned for a moment, so Dave decided to keep pressing his advantage. "Come on Hummel, we're only supposed to be down here for a week and a half, and we're just working, it's not like we'd be hanging out. I'm sure it won't kill you to work with me."

Kurt pursed his lips and then let out a sigh. "Fine. I'm going to take a nap so I can get past the stress of seeing you. Then you are going to meet me at Reinamora at 4:00 for tea so that I can consider continuing to use you as the photographer for the collection. If you are even a minute late, I will cancel your contract and use whatever photographer Megan finds instead."

Dave blinked. "Who's Megan?"

"Megan's my assistant, remember? The one who had the audacity to hire you and condemn me to the living hell of working with David Karofsky."

"I'm pretty sure you called her Maggie earlier. Do you not even know your own assistant's name? Anyway, why is working with me going to be a living hell? We were cool at the end of high school. I know we haven't seen each other in a long time, but we ended school on good terms."

At "good terms," Kurt's eyes blazed and he flung the door to the hall open. "Get out, Karofsky, and you better be there at 4:00."


	2. Is It Really That Bad?

**Author's Note: I know it's a Kurt-free chapter, but I promise he'll be back in the next one!**

With Kurt napping (or at least isolated from terrorizing anyone), Dave decided he should probably go find the assistants and make sure Kurt's didn't hire another photographer. After poking around the hotel, he discovered Kurt's assistant leaning against the hotel's bar, moaning slightly. He walked up and touched her lightly on the shoulder, and she jolted upright. "I was just taking a minute, Mr. Hummel, I swear I've been calling all the other photographers we looked at..." She trailed off, and the look of relief on her face when she saw Dave in front of her was palpable.

"Oh, Mr. Karofsky! I thought...He wasn't too harsh, was he? I have no idea why he reacted that way. We looked over your work and all the contracts he signed had your name on them. I don't know what we're even going to do now. I can't find any photographers who can come down here on such short notice, and I don't want you to have come all this way for nothing." She shuddered, as if picturing what Kurt would do if she couldn't find another photographer. "Oh, and your assistant went outside. I think he's down by the lake." She sighed and rested her head on her arms again.

Dave signaled to the bartender and ordered two glasses of wine. They were going to need liquid fortification to get through the next week and a half. "It's Maggie, right?" he began softly, and the woman nodded. "Maggie, is Kurt always like this? I mean, does he always treat you so badly?"

Maggie looked thoughtful. "Actually, today hasn't been a bad day. Last week, he tried to pour his coffee in my lap when it didn't have enough cinnamon. He's really been a little mellow today."

Dave took a moment to consider this. If this was mellow, maybe there was something to what James had said earlier. Kurt may have been a little uppity in high school, but what David had seen today was full-scale bitch. And if this was mild, he hated to think what most days were like. "Maggie, if he's so awful, why are you still working for him? It can't be good for you to be under this much stress."

The young woman sipped her wine and smiled ruefully. "There's kind of an unwritten rule in the fashion industry that if you can work for Kurt Hummel, you can do anything. People think that if you can stand him, and he keeps you around, you have to have an iron will and a lot of talent. Plus, he's an amazing designer and you can learn a lot from him, so if I just stick it out a while longer, it puts me that much closer to becoming a chief designer myself someday."

Dave couldn't believe that the Kurt that Maggie was talking about was the same one he'd known in high school. That Kurt was confident, fun to be around, and most importantly, had forgiven Dave for all the awful things he'd done to him for the first three years they'd known each other. Of course, it was also the same Kurt who'd stopped calling and texting him the minute they finished high school. That had surprised Dave, but it wasn't as though he'd tried more than once to get in touch with Kurt after they graduated, either.

This new Kurt was still beautiful, Dave mused, with full lips and flawless skin. He also had a brittle quality about him, as though he expected everyone he met to disappoint him. God knows Dave had disappointed him more in high school than anyone should have a right to, and Kurt had forgiven Dave then. What had happened that had made Kurt so angry and unforgiving?

His reverie was interrupted when he remembered why he'd sought out Maggie to begin with. "I talked to Kurt after you left and convinced him to give me a chance on this assignment, so for right now, you can hold off on trying to find another photographer."

Maggie gaped at him. "How did you possibly convince him to keep you on the shoot? I thought he was going to kill you after we left! I was afraid I'd come back and you'd have been pushed through the window."

"Look, Maggie, I've known Kurt since 9th grade and trust me when I say I can hold my own with him. He and I are meeting at 4:00, so why don't you go and rest for a while, because around 5:00, you'll probably need your strength." As Dave paid for the wine, Maggie hustled toward the elevators, looking delighted to have a few Kurt-free hours.

He remembered how beautiful the lake was, and Maggie had said James was down there, so Dave decided to head that way. He found James sitting on the shore, skipping rocks across the lake's surface. He grinned when Dave approached and nodded for him to sit down. "Glad you didn't bring the devil with you."

"Come on, he's not that bad. Just a little stressed over shooting his collection." Even as the words left Dave's mouth, he had a feeling that they weren't totally true. Kurt might well be stressed, but stress doesn't usually lead to trying to fire your photographer, or to throwing sunglasses at people you hadn't seen in ten years.

"No offense, dude, but that man is a nightmare. As soon as you get over your happy little daze of seeing him again, you'll see exactly how the rest of us feel. That is, if we even stay down here, 'cause I'm pretty sure he canned your ass."

In spite of what he was saying about Kurt, James seemed to have calmed down quite a bit. He was no longer looking around in terror the way he had in Kurt's room, as if wondering what Kurt would throw next. Maybe there was something to this rock skipping. Dave took a moment to think before he spoke. He needed to tell James that they were staying around, but at the same time, Kurt was clearly gunning for a reason to get rid of Dave, so who knows? They might be on a flight back to the U.S. tomorrow morning.

"So I managed to talk him down, and I think he's going to let me keep the job. It looks like we'll be down here for the original time frame." James just sighed and fell backward onto the beach. It seemed that Dave was the only one who was still excited by the prospect of working with Kurt Hummel.


	3. Tea and Oranges

Dave checked his watch. It was 3:55. He knew he couldn't be late, but was it okay to be early? Judging by how unhinged Kurt had seemed in his room, he wasn't totally sure, so he edged behind a large plant in the lobby to wait it out.

When he saw Kurt striding across the lobby, arms full of a laptop and a thick binder, Dave leapt out from his floral refuge. Kurt scowled at his sudden appearance. "Really, Karofsky, you're behind a plant? I should have known, you always have liked hiding." When he saw Dave flinch, Kurt continued. "I can't believe you didn't bother to change out of your jeans. This is tea at a nice hotel, not _The Hick Show with Dave Karofsky_." Dave ground his teeth but forced himself to remain silent.

They walked into the tearoom and Kurt gave his name. As they were led across the room, Dave warred with himself about whether he should pull Kurt's chair out for him. On the one hand, Kurt already considered him rude, and if he didn't help him into his chair, Kurt might take that as another sign of Dave's brutishness. On the other hand, Kurt didn't seem too keen on accepting anything from Dave, so he wasn't likely to view Dave's help as a respectful gesture. Fortunately, when they arrived at the table, Dave caught Kurt's pause and the quick, imperious look he gave, and pulled the chair out to help Kurt get seated. Just as he was congratulating himself on a job well done, Kurt's sharp voice said, "I shouldn't have had to wait for you to pull out the chair, Karofsky. I swear, you're still such a Lima loser."

Well, that went well. If this was how Kurt was going to act, it was a good thing he hadn't promised James that they'd definitely be staying. Dave guessed that it wouldn't be too long before Kurt tried to have him forcibly removed from the hotel, probably for something like, "offending a famous fashion designer."

They'd ordered their tea when Kurt flipped open his laptop and Dave saw the webpage for his online portfolio open on the screen. "Karofsky, I've spent the last three hours going over your portfolio with a fine-toothed comb, and I have to say that it's mediocre at best. I found at least three shots with some element I just didn't like, and your ineptitude is going to ruin my spring collection. The shots you take this week better the best work you've ever done, or my line won't sell at all. And trust me when I say that if that happens, it will be _your_ fault."

Kurt explained that one of the reasons his team had hired Dave (of course, he wouldn't take any responsibility for it) was that he'd already spent time photographing the area around Tierra del Fuego. Therefore, he could look through Kurt's collection and help him decide which areas of the park would best highlight the clothes he'd made.

As Dave flipped through the enormous binder of sketches and fabric samples, he was struck by a few things. The first was that, despite the fact that most designers did all their work on tablets now, Kurt clearly preferred a more traditional way of designing. Second, while Kurt's designs were very much up-to-date, they were also strangely reminiscent of the clothes Kurt wore in high school, and that was dragging Dave back to some very vivid fantasies from high school.

He was just remembering a specific fantasy in which he and Kurt had found a clever use for a bow tie when Kurt's sharp voice broke into his thoughts. "Do you have the attention span of a gnat? How can we possibly get this finished when you're staring off into space with an imbecilic look on your face?" With that, he shoved a spreadsheet at David. Descriptions of the the clothes in Kurt's collection had been filled in, but the columns for photo location and model were left blank. "I can't possibly decide which models to use until I know where the photos will be taken, and I can't figure that out until you look through the designs, you lummox, so wipe that stupid look off your head and keep working."

Dave pulled himself together and focused on the drawings. Apparently, Kurt had been satisfied when Dave buckled down, because the snarl fell from his face and he started asking Dave questions about which locales would make for the most dramatic and interesting shots. By 6:15, they'd finished tea and relocated to Kurt's room, where they had planned out several locations for photos and decided that they'd head out as early as they could to take advantage of the sunrise, knowing that its colors would offset some of the clothes in Kurt's collection beautifully.

Working like this, one on one, had reminded Dave of the end of high school, when he had started to think he and Kurt might have a chance together. Kurt might be half crazy now, but Dave knew, just as he had then, that they had a _connection_. He smiled to himself. This photo shoot was going to be the chance he'd been waiting for; he'd finally be able to win Kurt over, and he might as well start trying right now. As he stood to leave the room, he bent down to peck Kurt on the cheek. When his lips were just a whisper away, Kurt turned his head and the kiss fell on the top of his head. Kurt shrieked and snatched up the remote. Dave made it out of the room in time, but he heard the remote thunk heavily as it connected with the door.


	4. That's Why You Want to be There

**Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and added this story to favorites and alerts- I really appreciate it! I'm a teacher and in grad school, and now that both of those have started back, updates will be more infrequent. Several of the chapter titles have been taken from Nina Simone's version of "Suzanne,"- the lyrics remind me of the Kurt in this story.**

His first day of work with Kurt had been hell. They'd been out by the lake since 6 A.M. so they could get everything set up in time for the sunrise. Kurt had insisted on being there from the start, and he'd dictated Dave's every move throughout the shoot. Once, Dave had sneezed, and Kurt had muttered under his breath and shot murderous glances at him for five minutes. Now that the sun had finally gone down and the shoot was over, Kurt had wanted Dave to load all the photos on his laptop and come to his room so they could look them over.

Peering over Kurt's shoulder, Dave could see that this was some of the best work he'd ever done. The colors were perfection, and the textures of the landscapes around the models caused Kurt's creations to pop. The designer turned around, and Dave was struck by the broad smile on his face. "My god, David, you actually managed to do something right. These are phenomenal! I may hire you for every collection I make. I had my assistant get me a few bottles of wine so that I could try to forget how your photos were going to make my line go down in flames. Since that doesn't seem likely anymore, would you like a glass?"

Two bottles in and Kurt was giggling like a little girl. A light red blush spread across his face and his head lolled on Dave's shoulder. When Dave jokingly nudged him, Kurt collapsed with his torso across Dave's legs, laughing even harder. He stared up at Dave and the blush got a little darker. His tongue darted out to lick his lips, and if Dave hadn't been sitting down, he knew his knees would have buckled.

"David...David, do you want to kiss me?" The wine had turned Kurt's voice singsongy. "I know you had a crush on me in high school and I, I think you want me now." Kurt was damn right, Dave thought. He did want him, although Dave wasn't sure if he wanted the Kurt he remembered from high school, or the one who'd just started stroking his way up Dave's thigh.

Kurt turned longing eyes toward Dave. "I want you to fuck me." Dave gulped. What the hell was he supposed to do? Kurt had been running hot and cold-mostly cold, he mused-since he'd arrived, and he could just imagine what Kurt would say when he woke up tomorrow and realized they'd had sex. He needed an out. He could fake needing to use the bathroom, lock himself in, and try to make a decision. Sighing, he gingerly lifted Kurt's head from his lap and murmured that he'd be right back.

Leaning against the vanity, Dave warred with himself. This might be the only chance he ever had to touch Kurt and he knew that it would be amazing. However, Kurt seemed determined to make Dave feel as badly about himself as possible, and damned if he wasn't succeeding. Dave couldn't remember the last time he felt this insecure about his body, his work, his clothes, the way he talked. It was probably best to cut his losses and leave Kurt's room now, even though he knew he'd regret it. He squared his shoulders, opened the door, and was hit full in the face with the sight of a naked Kurt lying on top of the bed.

God, Kurt was amazing. Not a single fantasy Dave had had in high school measured up to the way Kurt looked spread wantonly across the sheets. His eyes were closed and his hair was tousled from the wind they'd been shooting in earlier today. Kurt hummed in the back of his throat, and Dave could imagine so clearly how it would feel if Kurt was humming around Dave's cock. _This was it._ He finally had the chance to be with the man he hadn't been able to get out of his head since high school, and here he was, standing in the bathroom door and acting like a scared closet case.

But _still_. No matter how breathtaking Kurt looked right now, there was no way sex between them could turn out well. He knew he needed to stick with the decision he'd just made and was about to just duck out before Kurt came to his senses when Kurt whispered, "Are you going to come over here or not, David?" His voice sounded so tiny and worried, Dave found himself walking toward the bed without really thinking about it.

When he reached the side of the bed, Kurt stretched his arm up, fingers twisting in the material of Dave's shirt, and tugged. Dave's knees hit the mattress and his lips were suddenly crushed to Kurt's. Dave grasped Kurt's hips and rolled them over so that Kurt was straddling him, grinding down onto his lap. Kurt looped one arm under Dave's neck and trailed the other up his side.

His previous decision to leave now in the back of his mind, Dave pulled his shirt over his head while Kurt unbuttoned his pants. As horrible as this new Kurt could be, the feeling of his skin against Dave's was amazing. Kurt stretched up to kiss along Dave's jawline, then started placing tiny pecks down his throat and chest. In all the fantasies he'd had in high school, Dave had been the one on his knees in front of Kurt, figuring that was the only way Kurt would ever have considered that kind of interaction between them.

And now he needed to get out of his own head before Kurt sensed his distraction and this encounter was over before it had begun. If he got them back in the position he'd always imagined, with his mouth on Kurt, maybe that would be enough to keep Kurt from remembering that he was naked with someone that he apparently still hated.

He lifted Kurt off him and settled the slim man back on the bed. He lowered his head to place a kiss on Kurt's hipbone and heard a shuddering sigh come from above his head. Feeling more confident, he started at the base of Kurt's dick and ran his tongue lightly up to the head. Kurt's hips twitched and Dave heard him start to murmur. He tried to listen, but found himself caught up in rhythmic movements Kurt's hips were now making. He wrapped his lips around the head of Kurt's cock and slid his mouth down. Kurt's babbling became louder as Dave reached around him to toy with his pucker. As he slid a finger into Kurt, he felt Kurt's fingers tighten in his hair, and warmth flooded his mouth.

After he'd softened, Kurt reached down and drew Dave up to him. Burying his head in Dave's chest, he continued his quiet murmurs. "...knew you cared about me, you wouldn't stand me up..." Kurt's voice trailed off as Dave wrapped him more tightly in his arms. He stiffened, then breathed, "Excuse me," as he got out the bed and walked, straight-backed, to the bathroom. Dave stretched himself out on the bed, smiling contentedly. He may not have gotten off, but he'd never seen anything that turned him on more than Kurt's orgasm. Once Kurt got back, he thought, he could persuade him to pick up where they'd left off.

After a minute, Kurt came back from the bathroom and picked up Dave's shirt. Dave grinned lazily, thinking how sexy the smaller man would look in the faded T-shirt, when it smacked him in the face. "All right, you've done what you're good for," came Kurt's strident voice as Dave struggled to remove the shirt that had somehow wrapped around his head. When he got it off, Kurt was leering at his still-hard penis. "Or at least, what you're somewhat good for. Anyway, I have work to do, so you can get dressed and see yourself out." With that, he pulled on a robe, scooted a chair up to the desk, and opened his laptop. Dave stared at him in disbelief. How could Kurt have been so passionate and desperate for him _five minutes ago_ and now be so indifferent? It was too much for his mind to handle right now, so he just put his clothes on and headed for the door. As he left the room, Kurt sneered, "Took you long enough."


	5. He Himself Was Broken

**A/N: Thanks for the alerts, and of course, reviews are awesome and they really do make me want to write more, so please keep them coming. , this is when you get your wish! Dave may not snap as strongly as Kurt would have, but he has his moment.**

**I don't own Glee.**

When Dave and James arrived at the lake the next morning, Kurt was screaming at Kelly, one of the models on the shoot. Dave saw her steel her chin, but after Kurt had turned his back, she slumped and a tear ran down her face. Christ almighty, the man certainly had his own, rather unpleasant, way with words. After the way Kurt had treated him last night, there was nothing he wanted less than to deal with another antagonistic situation Kurt had started, but knowing how much Kurt's words had hurt him, he couldn't let a 19 year-old go through that.

He drew the model off to the side to ask her what was wrong. Kelly looked at him keenly, as if evaluating whether she could trust him. Something in his expression must have told her that she could, because she began talking softly. "He constantly tells me I'm fat, and I try so hard to lose weight, but this morning he took my banana out of my hand and told me I didn't need the carbs. Honestly, I'm so scared of what he'll say when he sees me eating something that yesterday I didn't eat until I got back to my room, and then I was so hungry that I ordered room service and ate a steak and two bowls of pasta." The entire time the girl was talking, she shot quick glances over her shoulder, as if she was afraid that Kurt would hear her.

Dave looked at his watch and saw that they weren't due to start shooting for another 15 minutes. Kelly was already dressed, and James could get the equipment set up. As they walked along the edge of the water, Dave began talking. "When I was seventeen, he called me chubby and I dieted for five months, until I had a physical and my doctor told me that if I lost any more weight, I'd start losing muscle." The model arched her eyebrow and waited for Dave to continue. "He knows exactly how to used words to hurt people. If you let him, he'll..."

Just then, Dave looked up to see Kurt gesticulating wildly at Maggie, who was clutching her clipboard to her chest and trying to back away. That was enough. It was one thing to act like this to Dave, who'd treated him like shit in high school. It was another thing to terrorize his assistant and take a banana from a girl who looked as though she hadn't eaten in a week. He walked over to Kurt, took him by the elbow, and guided him away from Maggie.

Kurt looked up at him and Dave felt a pinch in his chest as he remembered being in Kurt's bed the night before. He wanted to just take Kurt in his arms and forget what a bitch the designer could be, but someone had to reason with the man.

He didn't know what he was going to say, but he took a deep breath and started talking. What came out of his mouth surprised him. "Kurt, I can't do this anymore. You're hateful to me, you're awful to your assistant and mine, your design team is afraid of you, and I think you've helped several of your models develop eating disorders. There is no way I can keep working on this shoot. I'm leaving."

As he listened to Dave's words, the vein in Kurt's forehead looked ready to burst, and Kurt himself was turning a frightening shade of red. Dave hated to turn his back on Kurt, who after all, had helped him come to terms with himself in high school, but even he could no longer see Kurt through the lens of memories. David began to gather his equipment, telling Maggie that he'd post the pictures he'd taken so far to the online portfolio he'd set up, and that he'd be in touch to clear up any loose ends once they were all back in New York. He half expected Kurt to go off on another angry outburst, but Kurt was silent except for one quietly muttered, "Figures you'd do this again." Dave started to wonder what he meant, but gave it up pretty quickly. Thinking about Kurt was starting to give him a headache.


	6. And You Want to Travel With Him

**A/N: This is definitely AU as of The First Time. I appreciate all the reviews, favorites and alerts! Please keep them coming!**

**Also, I'm posting a one-shot, "And You Want to Travel Blind," which explains some of the events in this chapter in more detail, and is from Kurt's point of view.**

Dave leaned against the railing by the baggage claim. His mom had been thrilled to get the call asking her to come pick him up from the airport in Dayton; so excited that she didn't ask why he was coming home so unexpectedly. Hopefully she'd sent his dad to come pick him up, so he could avoid the conversation about quitting Kurt's shoot altogether. Sure enough, twenty minutes later, Paul Karofsky pulled up to the curb, clapped Dave briefly on the back, and loaded Dave's backpack and camera equipment into the car.

The silence of the hour-long ride back to Lima was broken around Piqua, when his dad turned to Dave and said, "Your mother's going to want to know why you're coming in on a flight from Buenos Aires, and you know she won't be satisfied until she knows every last detail." Dave shrugged, and his father continued. "Now, I took the car in to get the oil changed this morning, and I mentioned to Burt Hummel that you were coming back from Argentina today. You know what he told me?" Dave shrugged again, and waited for Paul to continue. "He told me that Kurt was in Argentina as well, shooting his new spring collection- that he was working with _a__new__photographer_ that he was really excited about. Any ideas about who that might be? And enough with the shrugging."

Dave sighed. His dad was right; Mom had a way of dragging information out of you without you even realizing what you were giving away. He'd last 5 minutes in that house before his mom knew that he'd slept with Kurt, they'd had an argument, and Dave had stormed off in the middle of the shoot. He shot off a quick text to Azimio, praying that he was off work and willing to throw Dave a lifeline. His phone buzzed, and Dave let out the breath he'd been holding. Z was already at the diner after his shift, providing Dave the perfect opportunity to slip away before his mom could start in on her questions.

"Dad, I'm not ready to talk about it. Z's at the diner; can you just drop me there and I'll tell Mom everything when Z brings me home?" His dad didn't look happy, but when they got to Lima, he went straight into town rather than turning onto the road that led to their neighborhood. When they pulled into the parking lot of the diner, Dave's dad turned to him.

"David, I'm going to let this slide because clearly something happened between you and Kurt in Argentina. Talk to Azimio, try to figure things out, and then get yourself home. Your mother's been on the edge of her seat since you called." Dave nodded and slid out of the car to walk into the diner.

As he approached the booth, Z stood to hug him. No matter how many times Dave saw him in uniform, he still found it hard to believe that Z had decided to become a cop. It turned out that forcing him into the Bully Whips had had a pretty positive effect.

Dave had barely taken a sip of his coffee when Azimio whacked him upside the head. "You had a week and a half to get your man. A week and a half! And you're back here after 3 days. What the hell, man?" Azimio's eyes were practically glowing, and Dave was starting to think that he'd have been better off going home to tell his mom every last detail of his time in Argentina. Z had turned out to be surprisingly vehement about helping him get together with Kurt. Dave supposed it was because he felt badly about how they'd treated Kurt in high school, and he wanted Kurt to see that Dave was a nice guy.

David sat back to listen to another one of Z's "You've just got to put yourself out there, get in touch with him, and show him what a great guy you are," speeches. He knew Azimio would lose steam after about 5 minutes, so all he had to do was wait.

About a minute in, he noticed a familiar face grinning from the booth behind Z. Strando heaved himself to his feet and sauntered over to their booth, grinning all the while. "So I couldn't help but overhear that you were spending some time with Hummel this week, Karofsky. I wonder how much he liked being around you, considering what you did to him after we graduated."

"What the hell are you talking about, dude? I didn't do anything to Kurt after we graduated. We completely lost touch after the last day of school. I haven't talked to him until this week."

Strando smiled and leaned over the table. "Let me fill you in, then. After your faggy display at Brittany's party, me and some of the guys decided to have some fun with you. That one night that you logged in to Facebook at my house? You left it so that it signed you in automatically, so we sent some messages to Hummel, told him that you had a big thing for him, he said he was in love with you, 'you' asked him on a date to Breadstixx, and then you stood him up to go on a date with some other dude. Of course, being the nice guys that we are, we couldn't just let him sit there at the restaurant, so we stopped by to let him know that you were out on a date." By the end of the story, Strando was practically glowing at his own cleverness, and Dave felt as though he was going to be sick.


End file.
